Electric incinerator

ABSTRACT

A multi-chambered incinerator having high temperature electric heater elements at one or more flame ports. The incinerator has a main combustion chamber followed by one or more additional chambers connected by one or more flame ports. In the flame port which may have checkerboard refractory or a high temperature electric heater grid system is installed. The electric heater elements are designed for rapid rise in temperature, for example in a period of 5 to 15 minutes to provide flame port temperatures in the order of 1300* Fahrenheit more or less depending on operating conditions. The elongated electric heater elements which can be arranged either vertically or horizontally or as a grid system provide an extremely rapid rise high temperature heating element to facilitate the combustion of waste materials and gases and particulates and further serves as an impingement screen to provide for settling of incombustible particulates. The electric heater system can be used with or without checkerboard refractory in the flame ports and provides an improved and efficient means for incinerating industrial, commercial or agricultural waste material and minimizes air pollution.

United States Patent [191 Gunn [ ELECTRIC INCINERATOR [75] inventor:Nathaniel l. Gunn, Springfield, Mo. [73] Assignee: Federal EnterprisesInc., Nixa, M0. [2 2] Filed: Apr. 19, 1974 [21] Appl, No.: 462,340

[52] U.S. Cl. ..110/8 E; 110/8 A; 110/18 E [51] Int. Cl. F23g 5/10 [58]Field of Search 110/8 R, 8 A, 8 E, 18 R, 110/18 E [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,845,882 8/1958 Bratton 110/8 3,259,083 7/1966Evans 110/8 3,467,035 9/1969 Anderson et a1. 110/18 3,495,555 2/1970Boyd ct a] t 110/8 3,496,890 2/1970 LaRue 110/18 PrimaryExaminerl(enneth W. Sprague Attorney, Agent, or FirmG1enn K. Robbins[57] ABSTRACT A multi-chambered incinerator having high tempera- [451Apr. 15, 1975 ture electric heater elements at one or more flame ports.The incinerator has a main combustion chamber followed by one or moreadditional chambers connected by one or inore flame ports. in the flameport which may have checkerboard refractory or a high temperatureelectric heater grid system is installed. The electric heater elementsare designed for rapid rise in temperature, for example in a period of 5to 15 minutes to provide flame port temperatures in the order of l300Fahrenheit more or less depending on operating conditions. The elongatedelectric heater elements which can be arranged either vertically orhorizontally or as a grid system provide an extremely rapid rise hightemperature heating element to facilitate the combustion of wastematerials and gases and particulates and further serves as animpingement screen to provide for settling of incombustibleparticulates. The electric heater system can be used with or withoutcheckerboard refractory in the flame ports and provides an improved andefficient means for incinerating industrial, commercial or agriculturalwaste material and minimizes air pollution.

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ELECTRIC INCINERATOR RELATED APPLICATION This application is copendingwith my application Ser. No. 277,784 filed Aug. 3, 1972, now US. Pat.No. 3,804,035.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By means of this invention there has beendevised a multi-chambered incinerator provided with high temperatureelectric heater elements to increase combustion efficiency of the wastematerial and to aid in the reduction of air pollution. The need forfluid fueled burners such as those using gas, oil or the like may beeliminated or greatly reduced.

The electric heater elements are of the rapid rise high temperature typeand may be installed in or adjacent to one or more of the flame ports inthe multi-chambered incinerator. The electrical heater elements arepreferably elongated and may be arranged either horizontally orvertically or as a grid as desired to provide for impingement of thewaste combustion gases and particulates and to provide for increasedturbulence of the smoke and hot gases in the area of the flame ports.

In practice the electric heater elements can be used at the start up ofincineration process to provide a high temperature in the flame portarea for example leading from the main combustion chamber to down streamchambers. After the start up of combustion they may be turned offmanually or automatically and can be started up again depending upontemperatures sensed in the system again either manually or automaticallyby sensing means.

The above features are objects of this invention and further objectswill appear in the detailed description which follows and will otherwisebe apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention there is shown inaccompanying drawings prefered embodiments thereof. It is to beunderstood that these drawings are for the purpose of illustration onlyand that the invention is not limited thereto.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1, is a view in front elevation of a five chamberedincinerator.

FIG. 2, is a view in vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3, is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4, is a view in vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5, is a view in horizontal section through the middle of athree-chambered incinerator.

FIG. 6, is an enlarged view in vertical section taken on the line 66 ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 7, is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The incinerator of this invention isgenerally designated by reference numeral 10 in FIGS. 1 through 4 as afive-chambered incinerator and by the reference numeral 12 in FIG. 5 asa three-chambered incinerator. In both types of multi-chamberedincinerators the flame ports are provided with electric heater elementsgenerally designated by the reference numeral 14.

The five-chambered incinerator 10 shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 isconstructed of a main burning chamber 16 as a first chamber, acombustion chamber 18 as a second chamber, an up-pass or settlingchamber 20 as third chamber, a second combustion chamber 22 as a fourthchamber. Waste material to be incinerated is charged to the burningchamber through a sliding charge door 26 and exhaust gases are exhaustedto the atmosphere through a stack 28.

The incinerator 10 is constructed of an inner refractory lining 30 offire brick encased in a steelplate exterior 32. The entire unit is rigidand can be transported from place to place and supported upon I-beamrunners 34 to rest on the ground.

The burning chamber 16 receives waste material through the charge door26 which may be raised and lowered to receive the material. A grate 36is positioned at the bottom portion of the burning chamber above aclean-out door 38 for cleaning out noncombustible material.

A flame port 40 is positioned at the upper portion of a side wall 42 ofthe main burning chamber. This wall forms a common boundary between thefirst chamber and the second chamber and also between the first chamberand the third chamber in such a fashion that the second and the thirdchambers are positioned in tandem at the side of the main combustionchamber as best shown in FIG. 3. A further side wall 44 separates thesecond and third chambers from the fourth and fifth chambers as bestshown in FIG. 3. By this construction the second and third chambersconstituting a combustion chamber and up-pass chamber are positioned intandem with the fourth and fifth chamber constituting a fourthcombustion chamber and up-pass chamber at the side of the incinerator toprovide for maximum utilization of space efficiency.

The flame port 40 is best shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7. It is formed atthe upper rear portion of the side wall 42 and is provided with aplurality of horizontally extending tubular heater elements 14 extendingacross the opening and refractory checker work 46 spaced in back of thetubular heater elements in the flame ports. Openings in the checkerrefractory 46 in conjunction with the openings between the spaced heaterelements break up the flow of combustion gases and materials passingfrom the main burning chamber to the combustion chamber forming thesecond chamber in the series of chambers and also provide a hot surfacefor impingement of relatively large non-combustible fragments orparticulates to aid in the settling or these particulates. Thecombustion gases are exposed to the heater elements and the hotrefractory checker work to increase the combustion efficiency in thesecond chamber.

A clean-out door 48 is formed in the second chamber 18 for clean out ofsettled or non-combustibles particulates. The second chamber isseparated from the third chamber by intermediate curtain wall 50. Thiscurtain wall extends from the top of the incinerator downwardly to leavean arched curtain wall opening 52 as best shown in FIG. 4. The opening52 communicates the second chamber with the third chamber and is locatedat right angles to the flame port 40 such that combustion gases mustmake a turn for greater turbulence and dwell time in passing into theup-pass chamber 20 which constitutes the third chamber of theincinerator.

The third chamber 20 is of substantially twice the size of thecombustion chamber 18 and the velocity of gases passing through thesecond chamber will be reduced in the third chamber to increaseretention or dwell time and enhance the settling of non-combustibleparticulates to the floor of the up-pass chamber 20.

A second flame port 54 constructed in the same fashion as the flame port40 previously described communi cates the third chamber 20 with thefourth chamber 22 constituting the second combustion chamber. The flameport 54 is situated at right angles with respect to the curtain wall 50to provide a tortuous path into the fourth chamber 22 through the flameport opening 54. The fourth chamber 22 is similar in construction to thecombustion chamber 18 previously described and additional turbulence andincreased velocity is encountered by the combustion gases passingthrough it to the fifth chamber 24 constituting the second up-pass orsettling chamber. A second curtain wall 56 similar in construction tothe afore-mentioned curtain wall 50 separates the fourth chamber fromthe fifth chamber. The construction provides for changes in velocity andenhanced settling of particulates in the second or last uppass orsettling chamber 24. A clean-out door 58 provided at the rear of theincinerator provides for cleanout of particulates from the fifth chamber24.

In the construction of the incinerator the heater elements may beinstalled in or near one or more of the flame ports. The heater elementsare designed for rapid rise in temperature in the order of l,300 F, forexample, and in a period of to minutes to provide a very rapidtemperature rise in the flame port structure for improved combustion ofthe incinerator materials and gases. The heater elements may be eitherself support ing at the heater ends or may have supports at points alongthe length that will be well understood in the art. These supports maybe of refractory or alloy construction and may be supported either frombelow the element or as a hanger, or both. The electrical terminalconnections may be inside or outside the incinerator depending on thetype of elements used. Power supply connections may be on top or theside of incinerator as desired.

The flame port openings as will well be understood in the art may beeither round, square or rectangular and may or may not be equipped withchecker work. The checker work provides for an intentional obstructionfor impingement of gases and particulates in or behind a flame port andto retard the flow of gases to create turbulence and promote mixing ofoxygen with smoke or combusted gases. The checker work may beconstructed of fire brick or other refractory materials or metal alloy.

The electric heater elements are designed to generate a high temperaturein the order of 1,300 F with rapid rise in temperature upon start-upwhen electric current is applied. The elements may be conventional inconstruction and may be metallic sheathed or of tubular design using avariety of heat resistant alloys. They may be cylindrical, spiral,hollow or solid and may or may not have heat dissipating fins or coilson the surface. The elements may also be made of refractory materialthroughout or can be of metal and sheathed in a refractory tube orcasing.

Although the incinerator described is a fivechambered unit as shown inFIGS. 1 to 4, other types of incinerators can be employed for thecombustion of solid, semi-solid, liquids, gases and waste materials forthe purpose of reducing these materials at specified rates to residueswhich contain little or no combustible materials.

A modification showing a three-chambered incinerator for example isshown in FIG. 5 designated by the reference numeral 12. In thismodification the same reference numerals for similar details ofconstruction are employed as for the five-chambered incinerator of FIGS.1 through 4. Thus a main combustion chamber 16 is employed whichcommunicate through flame port 42 to a second chamber 18. The secondchamber 18 is a combustion chamber which communicates through curtainwall 50 to an up-pass or settling chamber 20. This incinerator is of asimplified design and while not providing the high degree of combustionefficiency and settling of particulates as the five-chambered unitpreviously described, can be well employed for many types of wastematerial where a simpler and smaller unit is desired.

USE

In operation of the incinerator for this invention waste material to beincinerated is directly charged to the burning chamber through thesliding charge door 26. This material may be started to burn by simplematch ignition or where desired auxiliary burners can be employed toincinerate the waste material at high temperature. The electric heaterelements are energized which may be effected as desired at the same timeas the main combustion chamber incinerator. The combustion gases andentrained uncombusted combustible. material and uncombustibleparticulates travel at a high velocity through the electrically heatedflame port 40 to the second chamber 18. Non-combustible particles mayfall through the grate 36 in the burning chamber for ultimate clean-out.

The high velocity gases and particulates in passing through theelectrically heated flame port encounter a high degree of turbulence andare further combusted. Impingement of non-combustible materials on theelectric heater elements and the flame port refractory checker workcauses a further settling directly to the burning chamber grate whilethe gases and particulates passing through the flame port are subjectedto further combustion in the relatively small second chamber 18.

The combustion gases and entrained particulates are then caused to bedirected downwardly and at right angles with regard to the flame portthrough the lower opening in the curtain wall 50 for admission to thethird chamber 20. In the third chamber an increased retention time isprovided for settling of non-combustible particulates to the floorcaused by the reduction in velocity.

The entrained particulates and combustion gases then pass upwardlythrough the second flame port 54 into the fourth chamber 22 constitutinga further mixing and combustion chamber. The flame port 54 with theelectric heater elements acts in the same fashion as the first flameport 40 to create further combustion and turbulence of acts as a screenand an impingement means to settle further non-combustible particulates.The combustion gases in the fourth chamber and any non-combustibleparticulates angled pass through the lower opening in the curtain wall56 to the fifth and last chamber 24 which is an up-pass or settlingchamber and the gases are then exhausted through the stack 28.

A greatly increased efficiency in combustion and settling ofnon-combustible particulates and reduction or air pollution is providedthrough the electrical incinerator of this invention. In the passage ofthe combustion gases through the five chambers three right angles turnsare encountered horizontally and a tortuous or undulating path isencountered in the vertical direction through the relationship of theelevated flame ports and the lower openings in the curtain walls. Bythis relationship with the electric heater serving for furthercombustion and as an impingement screen and the checkered or latticework in the flame ports there is provided a tortuous and turbulent pathfor maximizing turbulence and to effect centrifugal forces to causesettling of particulates and increase the combustion efficiency. Furtherthe reduction in velocity encountered between the combustion and up-passor settling chambers cou pled with the change in direction andturbulence favors maximum settling of particulates in the combustiongases before evacuation through the stack 28.

The operation and use of the three chambered incinerator 12 is in thesame manner as previously described for the five-chamber incinerator.The residence or dwell through the reduction in the number of chambershowever shortens the tortuous path and the degree of combustionefficiency is obviously reduced.

The incinerator provided by this invention is in the form of a packageunit and electrically heated is rugged in construction and simple inoperation such that it can be operated by relatively unskilled personsin the art. The efficiency provided in the operation favors reduc tionof particulates in the exhaust gases and minimizes air pollution in thesurrounding atmosphere.

Various changes and modifications may be made within this invention aswill be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes andmodifications are within the scope and teaching of'this invention asdefined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. An incinerator for incinerating industrial and commercial wastes andproviding maximum settling of particulates prior to release of wastegases to the atmosphere, said incinerator comprising a main burningchamber and a series of further chambers connected to one another toprovide for further combustion and variation in velocity of the gasespassing there through, a flame port opening into one of said chambers,said opening being provided with high temperature electric incineratormeans in heat transfer relation with waste gas and particulate matterpassing through the flame port opening, said flame port beingconstructed of refractory checkerwork to provide increased gasturbulence through checker-like openings and said electric incineratormeans being in the form of spaced elongated heater elements extendingacross the checkerlike openings.

2. The incinerator of claim 1 in which the heater elements extendthrough the refractory checkerwork and across the checker-like openings3. The incinerator of claim 1 in which said electric incinerator meansis characterized by its ability to provide a rapid rise in temperatureto provide a sufficiently high temperature to combust the waste gasesand combustible material passing in heat transfer relation past saidelectric incinerator means.

1. An incinerator for incinerating industrial and commercial wastes andproviding maximum settling of particulates prior to release of wastegases to the atmosphere, said incinerator comprising a main burningchamber and a series of further chambers connected to one another toprovide for further combustion and variation in velocity of the gasespassing there through, a flame port opening into one of said chambers,said opening being provided with high temperature electric incineratormeans in heat transfer relation with waste gas and particulate matterpassing through the flame port opening, said flame port beingconstructed of refractory checkerwork to provide increased gasturbulence through checker-like openings and said electric incineratormeans being in the form of spaced elongated heater elements extendingacross the checker-like openings.
 2. The incinerator of claim 1 in whichthe heater elements extend through the refractory checkerwork and acrossthe checker-like openings.
 3. The incinerator of claim 1 in which saidelectric incinerator means is characterized by its ability to provide arapid rise in temperature to provide a sufficiently high temperature tocombust the waste gases and combustible material passing in heattransfer relation past said electric incinerator means.